INDIRECT STATEMENTUnderstanding the SEQUENCE of TENSES

Indirect Statement review Reports in an indirect way (i.e. no quotes) what

someone has said, thought, felt, etc. Often used after verbs of: Speech

Dico, dicere, dixi, dictus Inquit Affirmo, are, avi, atus Refero, referre, retuli, relatus

Mental activity Puto, are, avi, atus Cognosco, ere, cognovi, cognitus

Sense perception Audio, ire, ivi, itus Video, -ēre, vidi, visus Sentio, sentire, sensi, sensus

How it looks in Latin…

Verb of speech, mental activity, or sense perception +

Subject accusative Infinitive

Domitianus dicit pueros bene discere. Domitian says that the boys learn well.

Ego puto Romanos vincere. I think that the Romans are winning.

Polla audit Helvidium necatum esse Polla hears that Helvidius has been killed.

Types of Infinitives

You average verb has SIX infinitive forms: Present Active

putare tenēre agereaudīre

Present Passive putarī tenēre agī audīrī

Perfect Active Putavisse tenuisse egisse audivisse

Perfect Passive Putatum esse tentum esse actum esse auditum esse

Future Active Putaturum esse tenturum esse acturum esse auditurum esse

Future Passive Putatum iritentum iri actum iri auditum iri

Cont.

The present and perfect active and passive are the most common, followed by the future active.

The future passive infinitive is VERY rare. We won’t talk about it much more than

that.

Infinitive patterns

Present active End in -re

Present passive End in -ī

Perfect active Perfect active stem (3rd principal part) + isse ONE WORD

Perfect passive Perfect passive stem (4th principal part) + esse TWO WORDS

Future active Perfect passive stem + urus, a, um + esse TWO WORDS

Tense of Infinitives

This is the tricky part: Present infinitives express an action that

happens AT THE SAME TIME as the MAIN verb. nuntius dicit Romanos vincere.

The messenger says that the Romans are winning. Perfect infinitives express an action that

happened BEFORE the main verb nuntius dicit Romanos vicisse.

The messenger says that the Romans have won. Future infinitives express action that WILL

HAPPEN AFTER the action of the main verb. nuntius dicit Romanos victuros esse.

The messenger says that the Romans will win.

Cont.

That’s not too bad. But there’s more… We have only been looking at the MAIN

VERB in the present tense, but it could also be in other tenses, too… Nuntius dixit Romanos vincere.

The messenger said that the Romans were winning.

Nuntius dixit Romanos vicisse The messenger said that the Romans had won.

Nuntius dixit Romanos victuros esse The messenger said that the Romans would win.

Sequence of tenses

Notice that the RELATIONSHIP between the verb and infinitive in both sets of sentences is the same: nuntius dicit Romanos vincere.

The messenger says that the Romans are winning.

Nuntius dixit Romanos vincere. The messenger said that the Romans were

winning. In each example the winning is occurring

at the same time that the messenger is speaking.

This is because the infinitive used preserves the original, direct statement.

Meet Steve and the messenger

Hic est Steve. “Romani vincunt.”

Nuntius dixit Romanos vincereNuntius dicit Romanos vincere

Notice that the original statement, “The Romans are winning (at the moment I am saying this) is the same…whether it is the messenger says that they are…or the messenger said that they were…

Tips

This takes practice to get straight Luckily, there are TONS of examples in

your packet to help you get the hang of it :)

Let’s try some now… Milites dixerunt hostes recessisse.

The soldiers say that the enemy has withdrawn.

The soldiers said that the enemy was withdrawing

The soldiers said that the enemy had withdrawn.

The soldiers say that the enemy withdrew.

How to Translate an Indirect Statement

Memorize the chart below to assist you in translating an indirect statement.